Two road losses during a brutal stretch of schedule may have looked like upsets on paper, but in the war of attrition that is the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference basketball schedule, the Skyhawks return home a successful bunch.
The Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team saw its program-record streak of 18 consecutive weeks inside the top 25 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll come to an end this week. FLC is still receiving votes in the poll and is still in first place of the RMAC coming off inarguably one of the toughest road trips in the history of the conference, with seven of its last eight games coming on the road. Since Thanksgiving, FLC has played only three games at home, setting up a stretch of eight home games in its final 12 of the regular season.
It all starts this Friday back on Bob Hofman Court at Whalen Gymnasium for the first of four consecutive home games. FLC has won 24 consecutive games inside Whalen.
“We’re ready to rock,” FLC head coach Bob Pietrack said. “The old line is, ‘success isn’t permanent and neither is failure.’ We tell our guys that all year long.
“It’s a week-to-week league. What we did last week means nothing, and what we do in two weeks means nothing. It’s up to us to focus on the week at hand. We realize we fell out of the polls, but really we’re focused on our first game Friday and getting to Saturday after that.”
First up for the Skyhawks (13-3, 8-2 RMAC) is Black Hills State (5-11, 2-8 RMAC) at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Yellow Jackets have yet to win a game on the road this year, going 0-6.
The focus will be on the guard matchup between FLC’s star senior Joshua Blaylock and Black Hills standout Zach McLemore, who scores 12.2 points per game.
“He’s a Colorado Christian transfer and an all-league talent,” Pietrack said.
But Pietrack has to like his matchup, as Blaylock is one of the top defenders in the league and is the RMAC’s second leading scorer with 19.5 points per game. Ahead of him is teammate Rasmus Bach, whose 20.2 points per game comes along with a 56.8 percent shooting performance this year, which ranks sixth in the league.
FLC boasts the top scoring offense in the RMAC at 91.6 points per game, seven points more than second place CSU-Pueblo. Black Hills State ranks last in the conference at 63.2 points per game.
After Friday’s game, the Skyhawks will switch focus to South Dakota Mines for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. The Hardrockers (9-7, 5-5 RMAC) bring in one of the league’s best big men in Konor Kulas, who averages 18.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. His is the league’s second-leading rebounder and fourth-leading scorer. FLC will try to answer with Brandon Wilson, who averages a third-best eight rebounds per game and has earned three RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
After making the trip to South Dakota each of the last two seasons, Pietrack is happy the two furthest away schools in the RMAC will visit Durango this time around.
“It’s nowhere close to Durango. It’s a different world,” Pietrack said. “This year, they’ve got to make the trip, and we’re looking forward to it. We’re looking forward to playing at home with our fans. It’s been a long time since the Whalen was packed with our home crowd and students. We’re ready to rock.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who: Black Hills State/South Dakota Mines at Fort Lewis
What: RMAC men’s basketball
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday/Saturday
Where: Bob Hofman Court at Whalen Gymnasium
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Twitter: @The7thFreezer
